Baby I
by VictoriouslyGrande
Summary: Three years after Cat Valentine got pregnant in high school, she's struggles with how her life has turned out. Was keeping the baby ultimately the wrong choice? Lots of Catorade friendship :)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I haven't written something in like a year and I reread all of my older stories and feel like they kinda suck so hopefully this one is better haha. Also, I know it's summer and not Halloween, so idk what possessed me to write it taking place at Halloween time but its not that important to the story so it's w/e lol. Finally, I want to credit my friend Arianna for naming this story (we know Ariana's song its about a real baby, we just thought it'd be funny to name the story that) and she named some of the characters/helped with ideas in later chapters. Any and all typos can be blamed on her :P haha jk. Enjoy!**

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Its two weeks before Halloween and while most girls her age are finding the perfect pair of heels to compliment their slutty animal costume, 20 year old Cat Valentine is in the kid's aisle of the costume shop helping her 3-year-old daughter, Izzie, chose the best princess costume.

"Dis one, Mommy!" the young child beamed as she pulled the Belle costume off of the rack.

The petite brown-haired, brown-eyed young mom smiled. _Beauty and The Beast_ had always been one of her favorite movies and she was glad to see her daughter love it as much as she did. She took the dress from Izzie and picked up the child's hand, leading her towards the check out line. Before they could reach the line, Cat felt a tug on her arm.

"Mommy wook! Twins!"

Cat turned towards where Izzie was pointing and saw an adult version of the costume she had in her hand. Four years ago, before she was a mom, before the idea of even having a baby was anywhere in her mind, Cat would have jumped on the opportunity to dress up like a Disney princess, but being a single mom just didn't leave her with the extra money to buy the costume. Cat squatted down to be eye level to her daughter.

"Not this year, Sweetie. Maybe I can save enough money for next year, okay?"

"Kay kay!" Izzie didn't seem to mind. She was still getting her costume and that kept her happy. As Cat stood, she lifted the toddler up with her and rested her comfortably on her left hip, proceeding to head to the longer-than-necessary checkout line.

"Hey Izzie, wanna go see Aunty Jade and Uncle Beck for dinner?"

Izzies' eyes lit up. She loved her mom's friends and would never turn down the chance to go see them. Cat was just glad that Jade and Beck invited her and Izzie over for dinner as much as they did because she hated to cook.

"Yea!" she answered excitedly.

"Some of mommy's other friends might be there too."

"Aunty Tori?!"

The youngster had taken a keen liking to her mother's friend Tori Vega. She once told her mom that the tall, slim brunette reminded her of her favorite Princess, Belle.

While she loved her other Aunt, Jade West's dark sense of style was not as appealing to the Fairy Tale obsessed 3-year-old. Once, while watching _The Little Mermaid_, Izzie told her mom that Ursula, the dark villain of the movie, looked like Aunty Jade. Although she may look like the villain to her, Izzie loved her Aunt and Jade had never been anything but sweet and loving towards the child.

As long as Cat had known her, Jade West was not someone you'd want to have on your bad side. While she had mellowed out after high school, the black loving girl still liked very few people and had no problem letting them know that. Although they've all been friends since high school, Jade had only recently acknowledged Tori as her friend. However, Cat's child-like demeanor all throughout middle school and high school had never bothered Jade. In fact, she and Cat had been best friends since the day they met and no one could quite understand how. The summer before junior year of high school when Cat's daughter was born, Jade's rough exterior softened even more. Since the day Izzie was born, Jade never failed to have a smile on her face every time she saw the child. Cat always knew that Jade had a soft side for children, even if Jade denied it left and right.

Later that day, Cat pulled into the driveway of her best friend's two-bedroom, one story home that she shared with her long-term heartthrob of a boyfriend Beck Oliver. Beck, with his tan skin, good looks, and chin-length brown hair, had landed a few small roles on different TV shows since they left high school, allowing him and Jade to live comfortably on their own. Cat couldn't help but feel a little jealous of her friends' success. Beck has been acting, Jade's been recording her first single, Tori's been working with their other friend, Andre Harris, to write and produce music together, and the last member of their little group was Robbie Shapiro who happened to land an internship with Jeff Dunham. Robbie has been carrying around his puppet, Rex, for as long as Cat knew him and he was finally getting the chance to learn from the best. Even Tori's older sister, Trina, who had also gone to school with them, had managed to create a successful modeling career for herself.

Cat glanced in her review mirror at the brown-haired ball of energy in the backseat of the car. Izzie had her mom's big brown eyes and the youngster's personality was all Cat. Before Cat could even get her door open, Tori and Jade came bouncing out of the front door, heading straight for the back door of the car. Walking right past Cat in the driver's seat, Tori pulled Izzie out of her car seat. Cat locked the doors as she stood out of the car, pushing her door shut as she turned towards her friends.

"Nice to see you guys, too" Cat said sarcastically.

"Oh hush. How're you?" Jade asked as she wrapped her arms around the shorter girl's shoulders for a hug.

"Alright. Tired. You know, the usual" Cat responded as Tori leaned over, giving her a hello cheek kiss since she was still balancing the toddler on her hip.

"I keep telling you, give me a call if you need anything. I'll baby-sit just so you can sleep whenever you need me," Tori told her. Cat had heard this offer many times from many people, but they most often came from Tori.

Tori couldn't help but feel guilty for the way Cat's life had turned out and she tried to make up for it by going above and beyond with giving Cat a helping hand. Izzie's father is a boy named Danny that Cat had dated for a few months in the beginning of her sophomore year. Before Tori even knew Cat, she and Danny had gone to school together and had dated. One night, in November of their sophomore year, Cat had brought Danny to a school dance. Danny and Tori were accidentally left alone while Cat was in the bathroom and when she came out Cat had caught Danny and Tori kissing. While Tori hated herself for giving into Danny's sweet talk and perfect smile, Cat vowed to break up with Danny and never speak to Tori again. The next day when Danny went over to Cat's house to apologize, she melted in his eyes and thought she'd give him a second chance which turned into one of her biggest regrets. After they made up, things started to go a bit too far. As Danny reached for the zipper on her jeans she wanted to stop him, but she thought that if she gave in just this one time then there would be no way he'd ever go back to Tori again. That one night changed her entire future.

Cat tried to avoid Tori for as long as she could, but eventually gave in and forgave her as well. Although, this was a decision she was glad she made. Tori turned out to be a great help throughout Cat's pregnancy, primarily due to the guilt she felt after Cat had told her when and why she had slept with Danny. As for Danny, he stopped talking to Cat as soon as she told him she was pregnant because he was "too young to be a dad" and she should "just get rid of it". When she refused, he got rid of her. That June, seven months after she had slept with her jerk of an ex boyfriend, Cat gave birth to a two month premature baby girl on her 17th birthday and spent the rest of her summer in the hospital waiting to take her baby home.


	2. Chapter 2

"So where's Andre? I thought he might be here too," Cat asked as she lifted Izzie into her booster seat at the table.

"He's working with some of the other band members tonight to write the music for a new song we've been working on" Tori informed her.

"Ooh. How's your music doing, Jade?" Cat asked as she lifted her glass of water to her mouth.

Jade swallowed her own water before replying with, "It's good." She wanted to tell her best friend all about how she was pretty sure she would be releasing her first single next month, but she didn't feel like upsetting her friend right now. She knew how upset Cat could get whenever they talked about their successful careers while Cat worked almost everyday at a restaurant just to make ends meet.

"Cat, you should get back into signing and acting" Beck offered up. "Now that Izzie's older it should be easier." Jade punched her boyfriend's thigh under the table.

"The entertainment business isn't a guarantee. I can't take that kind of a risk while I have the little munchkin to support." Cat forced a smile while she looked over at her daughter, who was picking up the pieces of corn with her fingers, neglecting the fork that was sitting on the table next to her plate.

With her parents help, Cat had managed to finish her last two years at Hollywood Arts with her friends, but as soon as she graduated her parents pushed her to get a job and a place of her own saying, "You're a mother now, you can't keep relying on your own parents for everything." It was that moment that Cat truly accepted that her future as an entertainer was gone. She just had to sit back and watch as her friends' careers boomed without her.

"So Izzie, I heard you got your Halloween costume today" Tori offered up as a way to change the subject.

"Yea!" Izzie exclaimed excitedly, spitting pieces of corn out in the process.

"Ew, Isabel, swallow first" Cat told her daughter as she took a napkin and began cleaning up the mess. Izzie turned towards her mom with a sad look in her eyes due to how Cat had reacted, but swallowed her bite and turned back to Tori saying, "I gonna be Belle!"

"Wow! That's so cool!" Tori responded with a smile. Izzie smiled back as big as she could, so excited that her own real life Princess Belle approved of her costume.

Jade could sense that something just wasn't right with her friend tonight, "Why don't you and Izzie spend the night here tonight? Izzie has plenty of extra clothes here and you can just borrow some of mine. Tori, you too. We need a girl's night. Beck can just stay in our room all night" Jade offered up, giving a playful smirk towards her boyfriend.

"As always, I get the crappy end of the deal. Fine, but you're making me popcorn" Beck smiled as he nudged his girlfriend with his elbow.

"Oh no! Jade West waits on no one. You know how to work a microwave."

A few hours later Cat was lying in bed singing a lullaby to Izzie, brushing the toddler's hair out of her eyes as she drifted to sleep. When Cat was sure her daughter had fallen asleep she gently kissed Izzie's forehead, slipped out of the bed and changed into the t-shirt and pajama pants that Jade had given to her. When she finished getting dressed she quietly opened the door and headed down the hallway to meet her friends back in the living room. Cat got to the couch and dropped onto the closest cushion before resting her head on the back and shutting her eyes.

"Nope. No sleeping, Valentine" Jade said, plopping onto the cushion next to her friend. "You need to tell us what's wrong."

"What's wrong? Nothings wrong." Cat tried, but failed, to convince her friends.

"You seemed off at dinner, not to mention you pretty much snapped at Izzie for accidentally spitting food" Jade reminded her.

"Well that _was_ gross" Cat offered in her defense.

"Cat, c'mon. We're your best friends, you can tell us" Tori chimed in.

Cat looked at her friends for a few seconds before just loosing it. She burst into a fit of tears she didn't realize she had been holding in. Jade put her arm around her friend's shoulders and pulled her close, allowing Cat to bury her face in her shoulder. Tori had gotten up from her spot in the chair a few feet away and came over to sit on the edge of the couch, rubbing Cat's back in comforting way.

"I just can't do this anymore" Cat finally spat out.

"Can't do what, Sweetie?" Tori asked.

"This. Life. Being a mom," Cat said, sitting back up off of Jade. "I'm tired all of the time. I never have money. I'm 20-years-old and I don't even have any kind of a social life! I'm just so sick of everything. I had plans. I had dreams. All of that gone because of her" Cat said motioning towards the spare bedroom with that last part.

"Hey! You don't mean that and you know it" Jade scolded.

"I love her, I do, but I need a break."

"It's not her fault and you know that. It's Danny's fault."

"It's my fault."

"It's _not_ your fault, Tori" Cat said slightly annoyed, rolling her eyes in the process. "I know you think it is, but you weren't there when I let him go too far. You weren't there when I didn't stop him because he didn't have protection. You weren't the one who told me I didn't need the morning after pill because I was only 16 and there was no way I could ever get pregnant. That was all me. It's all my fault."

"It's Danny's, too," Jade reminded her. "He left you. He's not here to help you with that gorgeous daughter of yours."

"Let's just stop talking about him. What movies do you have?" As Cat asked this, she stood and walked over to Jade's movie collection. Seeing the copy of _The Little Mermaid_ Jade had for Izzie caused Cat to chuckle. Partly because she was thinking of how Jade reminded Izzie of Ursula and also at herself. She couldn't believe she used to dye her hair that same shade of red just because she loved the movie so much. She pulled it off of the shelf and handed it to Jade to put on as she cuddled up next to Tori on the couch. Within minutes her eyes were shut and she was fast asleep in her friend's arms.

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**AN: I didn't know who else the dad should be and Danny seemed to work so I went with it haha.  
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	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Cat woke up as Izzie shifted positions on the bed in the Jade's spare bedroom. She couldn't remember going in there, but figured Jade probably had Beck carry her in after she fell asleep. She rolled over to see her daughter's big brown eyes level with her own.

"Moring, Booful!" Izzie smiled at her mom. Cat had to laugh. Izzie had picked that one up from her.

"Good morning, Beautiful" she said back.

She peered over her daughter's shoulders to the clock hanging on the wall. 8:03. Cat really didn't feel like getting out of bed, so she wrapped her arms around her daughter and said, "Five more minutes, okay?" Izzie settled for a minute before squirming her way out of her mom's arms and off of the bed. As she was heading to the door, Cat jumped out of bed and snatched her up.

"Aunty Tori is probably sleeping on the couch, we have to be quiet, okay?"

"Kay kay!"

As Cat opened the door, Izzie left the room and headed to living room. Before Cat could stop her, she was pulling on Tori's arm that was hanging off of the couch.

"Izzie, no! She's sleeping!" Cat tried to yell as quietly as she could.

"Not anymore" Tori said, opening her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tori. I told her not to bother you."

"It's alright," she said sitting up and tickling the child that was still standing next to her.

"Would you mind watching her for a few minutes? I'm gonna see what Jade has for breakfast for her," Cat asked, with a slightly annoyed tone to her voice.

"Of course," Tori said as Cat headed towards the kitchen.

After Cat had left the room, Izzie climbed up on the couch next to Tori, who was fiddling with the remote to turn on some cartoons.

"Mommy mad" the toddler said, looking at Tori with sad eyes.

"No, mommy's not mad," Tori assured her.

"Me bad."

"Nooo. You weren't bad, Sweetie. I promise," Tori said leaning down and planting a kiss on top of her head. "Oh, La La Loopsy is on. Do you like that show?"

Izzie nodded and squirmed off of the couch. She headed over to the small bucket of toys that Jade kept there for her and pulled out a pink stuffed giraffe, similar to the purple one Cat still had in her room. Giraffe in hand, she walked back over to Tori and crawled onto her lap. Hugging the giraffe close to her, she got comfortable against her Aunt's chest.

A few minutes later Cat came back in with a waffle and syrup, placing it on the coffee table along with a glass of juice.

"Here, Izzie, sit on the floor and eat it, please."

Tori placed her on the floor and Izzie walked over to the coffee table, kneeling by where her mom had put her plate down.

"Use the fork, please" Cat told her daughter.

"Why do you sound so annoyed with her all of the time?" Tori asked her friend.

"I'm not. I just don't want to clean up a sticky mess."

"You know she's gonna get sticky no matter what." Cat just shrugged.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't I give Trina a call? Maybe next weekend she and her roommate Amanda can baby-sit. That way you, me, and Jade can have a kid-free weekend like we used to."

Cat's eyes lit up. "I would love Trina forever!"

"I'm sure they won't mind, but I'll call her later today and let you know."

"Hey, why stop at the weekend. Ask her if she wants to keep her."

"Careful what you say, Mommy. She understands more than you think," Tori warned. Again, Cat just shrugged.

After they left Jade's house, Cat carried her phone around, anxiously awaiting the call from Tori to let her know that she could be kid free for a weekend. As Cat was getting ready to bring Izzie down to the apartment complex's indoor pool, her phone finally buzzed.

She picked it up to see a text from Tori: _This weekends good. Trina & Amanda can take Izzie Friday afternoon til Sunday afternoon & Jade said Beck won't be around so we can just stay at her house._

Cat quickly replied back saying: _Omg! Yes! Thank you so much! Omg I owe Trina!_

The rest of the week seemed to just fly by for Cat. She was so looking forward to the weekend that she seemed to do her mundane weekly schedule with a brighter smile on her face. Each day, as she drove back to her apartment complex, she would dance and sing along with the radio like she used to. When she got back to the complex, instead of moving at a snail's pace as she headed up to the apartment where Izzie's babysitter lived, she'd briskly walk to pick her up, thinking, 'The sooner this day ends, the closer I am to my kid-free weekend!'

When Friday finally rolled around, Cat left work with the biggest smile on her face. She picked Izzie up from the babysitter and as they walked to their apartment she said, "We have to go pack some clothes, remember?"

"Why?" Izzie asked.

"Because you're spending a few nights with Aunty Trina, remember?"

"Oh," Izzie said, not so excitedly. "You come?"

"Nope, it's just going to be you, Aunty Trina, and her friend Amanda" Cat told her as they entered their apartment.

"Why?"

"Because I have things to do!" Cat snapped without meaning to.

Izzie ran to her bedroom crying. Cat huffed before walking to her daughter's room. She paused in the doorway for a second seeing Izzie crying on her bed.

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin," Cat said as she walked to her daughter's bed and sat on the edge.

"You mean," Izzie told her, turning away from her mom.

"I'm sorry, Baby. I didn't mean to yell." She said as she reached over and pulled her crying daughter towards her. "I love youuuuu," she said as she started blowing raspberries on her daughter's stomach. Izzie started laughing before saying, "I lub you too, Mommy."

"Alright, now lets pack some bags!" Cat said as she starting buzzing around the room, throwing clothes and other necessities into a duffel bag.

An hour later Cat was pretty certain she had everything. She picked up Izzie's hand and started to walk out of her apartment, stopping as she opened the door. "Ugggh, your booster seat," Cat grumbled as she went back into the apartment to grab Izzie's booster seat from her seat at the kitchen table. When they finally had everything they needed, they made their way to Cat's car and took off on their drive to Trina's condo across town.

"That's Aunty Trina's door, go knock on it," Cat said gesturing to the door in front of them. Izzie bounced over to the door and pounded her knuckles on it.

Trina opened the door and squatted down to be level with the toddler. "Aunty Trina!" Izzie exclaimed as she ran into the older girl's open arms. "Hi, Cutie. I missed you."

"I miss you too!"

"And I miss you too, Cat," Trina said as she stood up with the child in her arm. She rested Izzie on her left hip and leaned over, wrapping one arm around Cat's neck. Cat was short as it was, but Trina lived in tall heels and always seemed to tower over Cat.

"I brought everything you should need," Cat said as she followed Trina into her living room and dropped the duffle bag and booster seat on the floor. "No partying, no drinking, please don't give her too much sugar. That one's for your own good. She likes to be sung to while she falls asleep, not like a gaudy show, just a sweet lullaby and -"

"CAT! Relax! I've taken care of children before. I got this," the once self-absorbed 21-year-old said. Just then, Trina's tall, blonde roommate walked in. Amanda and Trina were models together, granted Amanda modeled clothes and Trina usually modeled shoes, rings, or bracelets.

"Amanda, this is my sister's friend from high school, Cat. And this is her daughter, Izzie," Trina said as her roommate waked in.

Amanda came over and to say hi to Cat before turning and smiling towards Izzie saying, "Hi, Izzie. I'm Amanda." Izzie turned and buried her face in Trina's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, it takes her a bit to warm up to people. She'll love you before she goes to bed tonight," Cat assured her before turning to Trina and saying, "Her car seat is still in my car."

"Alright, I'll come down to the parking lot with you and put it in my car. Amanda, do you mind watching her for a minute?"

"I don't mind, but she might" Amanda joked.

"Hey Izzie, Mommy has to go. Can I have a kiss?" Cat asked, leaning towards her daughter. Izzie leaned down from Trina's arms and placed a kiss on her mom's lips.

"Have fun with Aunty Trina," Cat said with a smile as Trina lowered Izzie to the floor and the two girls headed to the parking lot.

After Cat moved her daughter's car seat into Trina's car and double-checked that it was secure, she gave Trina a hug and thanked her for doing this for her. As Trina headed back to her Condo, Cat got into her car and took off to Jade's house.

When Trina opened her door, she saw Amanda sitting on the living room floor with Izzie, both with big smiles, as they began working on a puzzle together.

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**AN: Fun Fact: I watch La La Loopsy with my 5-year-old cousin. It's actually pretty cute haha.**


	4. Chapter 4

Saturday night, Trina sat down on her couch, watching as Izzie ran from one end of the living room to the other end giggling the whole time.

"I guess this is why Cat said not to give her too much sugar yesterday," Trina huffed exhaustedly to Amanda, who was putting away the rest of the cookies that Izzie hadn't eaten.

Trina had given up on trying to settle the youngster and figured she could just run off the extra energy before bed. As she reached to the coffee table for the TV remote, Izzie playfully tried to get to it first. In the process, she slipped on the Barbie she had left laying on the floor. Within seconds, Izzie had flown forward, hit her head on the corner of the glass coffee table, and was lying on her stomach crying as her hands, that were cupped over the left side of her face, filled with blood.

Trina gasped as she flew off of the couch and over to the girl's side, not sure where exactly she had been hurt. Amanda grabbed a clean dishtowel and rushed to help her friend with the injured toddler. Expecting the worst and preparing herself to see that Izzie had severely damaged her eye, Trina lifted the hysterical girl into a sitting position and slowly pulled her small hands away from her face. She gave a small sigh of relief when she realized that all of the blood was coming from Izzie's forehead, but the relief was short lived when she realized just how bad the cut was. Amanda handed the dishtowel to Trina who placed it over the gash on Izzie's forehead.

"We have to take her to the emergency room. She probably needs stitches," Amanda told her panicked friend.

"Cat's gonna kill me," Trina mumbled as she stood and picked the child up, rushing towards the door. Her roommate followed close behind with both her and Trina's purses in hand.

Trina got Izzie settled in the car seat and slid into the back seat next to her as Amanda got into the driver's seat of Trina's car.

"Can you hand me my purse?" Trina asked still trying to comfort the crying child who was screaming for her mommy. As Amanda pulled out of the parking lot, she handed the purse back to Trina who used the hand that wasn't holding the dishtowel to reach inside and pull out her phone.

"I miss back in high school when the three of us and the boys would just stay up all night singing and goofing off," Cat announced Saturday night as she helped Tori and Jade clean up after dinner. A little upset that her only full day of being kid-free was almost over, Cat was determined to make the best of the rest of the night. For Cat Valentine, the best way to do this was to go back to the good-ole-days before Izzie when her life was carefree and nothing but fun.

"Like the time we spent the night in Wanko's Warehouse?" Tori laughed.

"Oh my god, that was so much fun!" Cat exclaimed excitedly.

"I kind of like the time we got kicked out of Sikowitz's sleepover and ended up at Vega's house watching the comedy movie where people were dying" Jade added as she took the plate Cat had just dried and put it away.

"Wait, what? You guys went to my house after you left?" Tori asked confused.

"Yea, your parents were watching some movie and we joined them," Cat told her.

"Oh" Tori said with a bit of a confused chuckle. "I still can't believe you beat all of the games at The Gorilla Club, Cat" she added.

"Those were fun! We should go back sometime!"

"Uhhh, no. You kind of can't afford to take the risk of getting badly hurt these days. Izzie needs you in one piece," Jade reminded her. Who ever thought she'd turn out to be in the levelheaded mature one?

"Don't remind me," Cat grumbled, rolling her eyes. "I miss getting to watch you and Andre perform at school dances," she said, directed towards Tori.

"I can arrange a private performance if you'd like. A hundred bucks an hour, minimum three hours" Tori teased.

"Shit, I'd rather pay three hundred bucks to listen to Trina sing," Jade teased, knowing that Tori's sister was never the greatest singer at Hollywood Arts High School.

Cat couldn't help but smile as they finished putting away the last of the dishes. This was exactly how she remembered hanging out with them in high school to be. Well, minus the cooking and cleaning they had done tonight.

"Remember Senior year when you dressed Izzie up like a giraffe and brought her to the school masquerade?" Tori asked with a smile as she sat down on the couch in the living room.

"Yea and she kept crying so I had to call my mom to come get her," Cat remembered somberly, taking the seat at the opposite end of the couch. "Can we go like five minutes without talking about her or thinking about how crappy my life is now?"

"It's not crappy, Cat. You have a daughter who loves you more than anything. How is that bad?" Jade asked taking a seat in the chair.

"Because, I miss out on spending time with you guys. I miss out on getting to perform like I used to. All day, every day, it's just me and a baby."

"That's bull! I see you at least 3 or 4 days a week and so does Tori. You just think you're missing out because you have so much pent up resentment towards your parents for pushing you out on your own so young. But honestly, our lives aren't that exciting. They're just as stressful, but in different ways." Jade was determined to get Cat to see her point, but, before she could be sure Cat understood, Tori's phone started to ring.

"Hello?" she asked as she stood up and walked into the hallway. "Trina slow down, what happened?"

Hearing that something was wrong at Trina's made Cat and Jade listen carefully to the end of the conversation they could hear.

"Okay. I'm sure Izzie's fine, she probably just needs stitches" Tori tried to comfort her sister. "Yea, we'll be right there. Which hospital?"

Before Tori had even asked the last question, Cat had jumped off of the couch and grabbed her phone and purse. She was already opening the door when Jade caught her arm, "You're not driving all freaked out like this. Get in my car." Tori, who was still on the phone with her sister, followed suit and Jade was soon pulling out of her driveway.

"Cat, Trina's putting Izzie on. She won't stop crying for you," Tori said as she handed the phone up to her friend in the passenger seat.

As Cat put the phone to her ear she heard her daughter's loud cry. Her hands were shaking, she just wanted to be there to comfort her and tell her everything would be okay.

"Hey, Sweetie. Shh, Baby, everything's going to be okay. I'm gonna be there real soon, okay? Aunty Trina is gonna take good care of you until I get there, okay? It's going to be okay," Cat said into the phone, trying to sound as relaxed as she could.

Jade looked over and saw a tear streaming down her friend's face. No matter what Cat said, Jade knew she loved that kid more than life itself. After Cat had to get off of the phone because Trina had reached the hospital, she sat in passenger seat of Jade's car just staring out of the window, hands still shaking. Jade reached over and placed her hand over Cat's. Cat linked fingers with her best friend and turned to face her, tears still welling up in her eyes.

"She's fine, Hun," Jade told her. "Kids get hurt all the time. These things happen."

"I know, but I should be there with her. She's scared, she needs me."

"We're gonna be there in five minutes. Trina and Amanda are taking good care of her for you," Tori said, leaning forward between the seats.

Cat just turned and stared back out of the window for the remainder of the drive.

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**AN: Fun Fact: The idea of Izzie bleeding into her hand and Trina thinking she hurt her eye came from personal experience. Except I was the toddler, it was a stool and my grandpa was babysitting. I still have a scar under my eye even though I didn't need stitches.**


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Jade pulled into a parking spot in the Emergency Room parking lot, Cat flew out of her seat and raced towards the door, her friends trailing behind her. As Cat burst through the automatic doors at the entrance, she saw Amanda sitting next to Trina, who had Izzie on her lap. Izzie's cheeks were red from crying, she had her head pressed against Trina's chest, and her thumb was in her mouth, something she only did when she was really scared.

Cat rushed over, grabbed her daughter off of Trina's lap and gave her a big hug and kiss. The toddler dropped her thumb out of her mouth and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.

"What happened? Why are you out here? Why does she only have band-aids on?" Cat asked Trina as she sat down next to her.

"The woman over there," Trina began, motioning to receptionist at the desk, "said that they were pretty backed up and because the bleeding had stopped on the drive over she wasn't considered 'high priority'. They put her higher up on the waiting list because she's just a baby but she said it'd probably be like 45 minutes to an hour before she could see a doctor. She gave her the band-aids to keep it clean."

By this point Jade and Tori had pulled chairs over and the five girls sat in a small circle, Cat still cradling her scared daughter. Izzie relaxed a little since her mom showed up, but was still nervous because she didn't quite understand where she was or what was going on.

"They gave us these to fill out, but I could only fill out the basic information. I didn't know the rest," Trina said, handing Cat a clipboard with a bunch of papers clipped to it.

"Izzie, can you go sit with Aunty Jade for a minute?" Cat said as she tried to hand her daughter over to her friend. Izzie clutched her mom's shirt and started crying, "Nooo!" so Cat sat her back down on her lap and tried to balance the clipboard on her knee.

"Give it to me, just tell me what to write" Jade said, taking the clipboard away from Cat.

After they finished filling out the tedious paperwork and returning it to the secretary, Cat sat silently in her chair. Izzie was sitting across Cat's lap, with her head resting on the right side of her mother's chest. Her thumb had made its way back into her mouth as she watched her Aunt Tori make silly faces in an attempt to cheer the young girl up. Cat tilted her head down, gently placing it on top of her daughter's, and stared off into the distance, past her friends, completely zoning them out.

Her mind flashed back to the last time she was in this hospital. Three years ago, Cat had spent everyday for a little over two months in the NICU visiting her tiny pink bundle.

_June 26, the morning of her 17__th__ birthday, Cat woke up with severe pains in her stomach. She tried to yell for her mom, but was in too much pain to yell. She swatted absentmindedly at the girl lying in the bed next to her. Jade groaned as she opened her eyes to see who was slapping her. _

"_What the hell, Cat?" Jade asked as she turned towards her friend. Her face dropped as she saw Cat clutching her stomach, clearly in more pain than she had ever felt.  
_

_Grabbing a pillow, Jade chucked it at the sleeping girl on the floor. "Vega, wake up! MRS. VALENTINE! COME QUICK!" Jade started yelling, becoming quite panicked herself. Tori jumped up from the floor and began helping Jade lift Cat out of her bed as Cat's mother rushed into the room. _

_Everything seemed to just be racing by her as Cat was carried to the car. She sat in the back of her parents' car with Jade next to her and Tori on the other side of Jade while her parents were in the front seats. She knew they were all saying things to her, but none of it made sense. She was in too much pain and was too scared to listen to a word anyone said._

"_I'm scared, Jadey" Cat told her best friend on their way to the hospital. She was tightly squeezing Jade's hand and looking up at her with fear in her eyes as she started to feel another surge of pain rushing through her stomach._

"_It's gonna be okay, Cat." That's the only thing she heard the entire drive to the hospital before being rushed into the emergency room and placed in a wheelchair. _

_ Aside from being so young, Cat's very tiny size was not the ideal situation for carrying a child. Because of this, Izzie was being born two months early, almost dying as she entered the world at just 3 pounds, 3 ounces with lungs that weren't fully developed. Cat only got a quick glance at her daughter before the infant was rushed away. After the nurses got her settled in her room, Cat silently cried herself to sleep, thinking about how she could loose her daughter. _

"_Hey, Cat," Tori said as she saw her friend opening her eyes. "How're you feeling?"_

"_Where's my baby? Is she okay?" Cat asked franticly. _

"_She's in the NICU, I can take you to see her if you want," her mother told her._

_Cat was helped into a wheelchair and wheeled down to where her daughter was. After washing her hands and putting on a sterile gown, Cat entered the NICU and slowly approached the incubator where her daughter laid, attached to more tubes and machines than Cat could have imagined. The red-haired teen reached her hand inside, picked up the infant's tiny fingers, and began stroking them with her thumb as she softly said, "Hi, Isabel. I'm your mommy. I'm so sorry I was too small for you to finish growing, but you were the best birthday present I could ever ask for. I love you and I will always love you." A tear had started to fall down Cat's cheek as she spoke._

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**AN: I don't really know how emergency rooms work, I've never had to go to one, so if that part seems a little unrealistic, oops.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Isabel Valentine?" the nurse called out into the waiting room. Cat, snapping out of her memory, stood up with Izzie in her arms and followed the nurse to an exam room.

"My name's Sarah. What's your name?" The nurse asked Izzie with a smile as Cat placed her on the exam table in the room. Izzie looked at her mom for approval before replying with, "Izzie".

"Okay. Miss Valentine, correct?" Sarah asked Cat, looking at the papers Cat had filled out. After she nodded yes, Sarah continued with, "And you're her mother, correct?" Again, Cat told her that she was correct.

As Sarah pulled off the band-aids on Izzie's forehead, Cat saw the gash on her daughter for the first time.

"Can you just go over what happened here?" Sarah asked as she slipped rubber gloves on and began cleaning the wound.

"Uh, well I wasn't there. My friend was babysitting and I guess she was running around the living room, slipped on a toy, and hit her head on the corner of the coffee table," Cat told her.

"Okay," Sarah said with a smile as she took her gloves off and threw away what she had been using to clean the cut. "I put some cream on there to numb the area for her. The doctor will be here in a few minutes, he'll stitch that right up and you'll be good to go," she said with another smile.

"Thank you," Cat replied, smiling back.

"It was nice meeting you Izzie" Sarah said as she waved goodbye. Izzie waved back with the hand that wasn't squeezing Cat's fingers as Sarah left the exam room.

"How does your head feel?" Cat asked her daughter once the nurse had left.

"Hurt" Izzie replied, reaching her free hand up to touch it. Cat quickly used her free hand to stop her before she could.

"You can't touch it, Sweetie. We have to wait for the doctor, okay?" Izzie nodded.

Cat noticed an animal book in the corner of the room and brought it over to look through with Izzie while they waited for the doctor.

"And what noise does a lion make?"

"Rawrrrr!" Izzie roared as the doctor opened the door.

"Uh oh. Is there a lion in here?" he asked as he entered the room. Izzie laughed, but quickly grabbed her mother's hand again.

"I'm Donny Stoker," he said, reaching a hand out towards Cat.

"Cat Valentine" she said, shaking his hand.

"And who do we have here?" he asked turning towards the scared girl on the exam table.

"This is Izzie" Cat told him as he pulled some rubber gloves on.

"Alright Izzie, I just need you to lay down flat on your back okay?"

Izzie wrapped both of her arms around her mom and whimpered when she saw the tools the doctor was preparing.

"Is this going to hurt her?" Cat asked concerned as she laid her now crying daughter on her back.

"She'll feel some pinches, but it won't hurt too bad." Cat must have made a face because Dr. Stoker continued with, "I promise she'll be just fine."

"Alright, Izzie, I want you to shut your eyes and think of something you really love, okay?" The youngster closed her eyes, but continued crying. "I need you to hold her nice and still, okay?" he said to Cat, who was less than enthusiastic about pinning her baby girl down so a guy could sew up her face, but obliged so this wouldn't be any worse for Izzie.

"Done! You were so brave!" Dr. Stoker told the crying child five stitches later. He began placing new band-aids over the stitches as Cat released her grip.

"Keep it covered with band-aids so she won't be tempted to touch them, but other than that she's all set to go. Just give your regular pediatrician a call and make an appointment with them to get the stitches taken out in about a week," he told Cat as he handed Izzie a lollipop and she lifted her daughter, who was finally calming down, off of the table.

"Okay, thank you" she responded as she followed him out of the door of the exam room.

She walked back down the hallway, totting an exhausted 3-year-old, to rejoin her friends. When they got back into the waiting room Jade, Tori, Trina, and Amanda stood and walked over to her.

"Everything okay?" Tori asked.

"Yea, she's fine, just ready to go home."

"You're both welcome back at my house for the night" Jade offered.

"Thanks, but I think I just want to take her home" Cat told her.

"I'm so sorry, Cat" Trina apologized, even though she already had a million times earlier while they filled out the paperwork.

"It's fine, Trina, really. It could have happened while anyone was watching her. Don't beat yourself up over it" Cat said, leaning in to hug her.

The girls all walked out to the parking lot together so Cat could get Izzie's car seat from Trina before getting back into Jade's car. On the drive back to Jade's house, Izzie fell asleep. After pulling into her driveway, Jade and Tori helped Cat to gently get Izzie out of the car so they could transfer her car seat back into Cat's car. Once Izzie was nicely settled in her mother's car, Cat said good night to her friends and headed home.

When Cat got home, she grabbed her purse and pulled her sleeping daughter out of the back seat. She walked to her apartment, unlocked the door and went inside, closing and the locking the door all in one swift motion. She dropped her keys and purse on the table and, without turning on any lights, walked to her own bedroom. She laid Izzie down and pulled off her sneakers before kicking off her own flats and crawling into the bed next to her. She cuddled up next to her daughter and fell asleep, not worrying about the fact that they were both still fully dressed.

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**AN: Again, never had stitches, not really sure how that shit works, so if it's unrealistic, just pretend it isn't haha.**


	7. Chapter 7

A week later was Halloween. Izzie's pediatrician didn't have an appointment available until Monday, so Cat had bought Izzie some yellow band-aids to match her Belle costume. As she was zipping up the back of Izzie's dress, Cat heard a knock on the door of her small apartment. She stood up off the couch, walked to the door, and looked through the peephole to see Jade and Tori.

"Izzie, look who it is" she said, opening the door. The miniature version of Cat came running towards her two Aunts, exclaiming, "Wook! I Pincess Belle!"

"You look great!" Jade exclaimed as she bent over and picked the toddler up.

"What are you guys doing here?" Cat finally asked.

"We wanted to go Trick-or-Treating with you and Izzie" Tori said with a smile. "And we figured after she falls asleep we can have a horror movie marathon like we used to."

"Well I don't know about that last part. I have to wake up when she gets up in the morning, don't forget."

"Hush" Jade said, placing a finger over Cat's mouth. "We'll get up with her. You sleep."

"You won't be getting up that early if you stay up all night watching movies."

"We get plenty of sleep every night. We can sacrifice a few hours so you can sleep in" Tori sternly told her friend. Cat knew she'd be dumb to turn down this offer, especially since they were already there, so she agreed.

After they had taken Izzie to as many houses as they could before her little legs couldn't carry her anymore, Cat was laying in her daughter's bed singing her a lullaby like she did every night. Izzie had fallen asleep during the first line of the song, but Cat didn't want to stop cuddling with her daughter just yet, so she kept singing. As she finished, she heard the door slowly open and she looked up to see Tori standing in the doorway, smiling. Cat placed a gentle kiss on the child's cheek, got out of the bed, and walked to her friend.

"We were afraid you had fallen asleep," Tori said as Cat walked past the taller girl, pulling the door to Izzie's bedroom shut.

"Nope, just didn't want to leave her quite yet tonight." Cat could smell the scent of buttery popcorn filling the apartment as she made her way to the couch with Tori.

"Cat, remember 'The Funny Nugget Show'? We used to just stay up all night watching movies and making stupid videos for TheSlap," Tori said as she sat down next to her friend.

"Yea. I swear I was like high off something back then" Cat chuckled, with a hint of her old child-like giggle.

"I'm pretty sure you were" Jade added sarcastically as she took the last empty seat on the couch, placing the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.

"Well, ya know, when my parents stopped helping me out I had to cut costs somewhere" Cat said jokingly, chuckling again.

"I missed your laugh" Tori added, reaching over and tickling her friends side. Cat, being the extremely ticklish girl that she was, couldn't help but squirm in a fit of giggles.

"Stop! Stop! I'm gonna wake Izzie" Cat pleaded as she inched closer and closer to Jade in a lame attempt to get away from Tori. Tori finally stopped and Cat moved back to her own seat on the couch. As Cat got herself comfortable again, Jade picked up the remote and started playing their first movie of the night.

The next morning, Cat was woken up when she felt small hands grab her leg as Izzie hoisted herself onto her mother's bed.

"Morning, Beautiful," Cat said, pulling her daughter up next to her on the bed.

"I hun-gy" Izzie said as she sat on her knees next to Cat's chest.

"Alright, I'll make you some breakfast" Cat said, pulling herself out of bed. "What do you want, Cutie?"

"Candy!" the child exclaimed excitedly.

"I don't think so," Cat told her daughter, smiling as she reached over and tickled her. Izzie squirmed around on her mom's bed, laughing like Cat had done the night before. When she finally stopped tickling her, Cat picked her daughter up and headed for the kitchen.

As she started to get breakfast ready, Tori woke up and got off of the pullout couch bed that she and Jade were sleeping on.

"We told you we were going to take care of her this morning," Tori said as she entered the kitchen.

"Yea, but you forgot to mention that to her and she woke me up instead of you."

"Well I got it from here, go. Back to bed for you," Tori said shooing Cat away from the kitchen. Cat wanted to protest, but when she opened her mouth she just yawned. "Yea, back to bed, go" Tori said one more time.

As Cat made her way back to her room, she heard Tori say, "Hey Izzie, while I finish getting your breakfast ready, why don't you go wake up Aunty Jade."

"Kay kay!" Izzie ran into the livingroom and jumped onto a sleeping Jade.

Jade grunted as she was surprisingly woken up. Had it been anyone else who woke her up, Jade would not have held back her anger, but when she realized who it had been, any ounce of anger she had just disappeared.

Around noon, Cat finally woke up and came to join everyone in the living room where they were watching none other than _Beauty and The Beast_. When she saw her mom, Izzie stood up from her spot on the floor and ran to give Cat a hug.

"What's on your face?" Cat asked, using her finger to wipe something brown off of the corner of her daughter's mouth.

"Chocolate!" Izzie told her. Cat turned towards her friends and gave them a look that clearly said, "are you kidding me?"

"Hey! Last night was Halloween, she's allowed to eat her candy" Jade argued.

"Yea, after she eats dinner first."

"This coming from the girl who used to live off of candy" Tori joked.

"Hey, sorry I want my daughter to have better eating habits than I did."

"Yea, but she's inherited everything else from you, so I'm sure she has your ability to eat whatever she wants and not gain a pound" Jade fought back.

"We don't know that and I'm not about to try and find out," Cat said, sticking her tongue out at her friend as she took the seat on the couch between her friends.

"Look whose so much more pleasant when she sleeps" Tori teased, poking Cat in the side. "Maybe now you'll take me up on my offer," she added, raising an eyebrow.

Cat knew she should let Tori watch Izzie more often, especially since it would occasionally save her money on a sitter while she worked during the week, but Tori was always so busy with her own work and life that Cat knew she couldn't expect her to spend all of her free time watching Izzie. And besides, if Cat slept every time her friends came over, she'd never see them. However, Cat didn't really mind spending all of her time with Izzie anymore. She had realized just how much that girl meant to her and knew that any difficulties and bumps in the road she experienced throughout her life would all be worth it as long as she was with her daughter. Her dreams of becoming a performing may be on hold, but that didn't mean they were gone forever.

* * *

**AN: To sequel or not to sequel? Hmm?**


End file.
